Category: Bags & Accessories

I saw a new panel of drawn animals and bought it thinking I would add them to a quilt I am currently making for my daughter. However, I also fancied having a go at the reverse applique technique and decided to use one of the panels to make a bag for my mother-in-law – she loves foxes and squirrels.

The main bag is made from a soft denim and I used a product called Odicoat to waterproof the panel and to help protect it from stains.

I added a zipped pocket and lobster clasp for keys inside. I’m pleased with how it turned out and as there are more animals on the panel I might make a few more bags.

This was another Lisa Lam creation and I just HAD to make it. I did, however, decide to do this the day before going on [another] holiday and it took me a full day to do it, when I should have been packing… I did take it with me on holiday but it stayed in a carrier bag because I was worried it might get dirty. Not exactly what you want from a bag…

I loved making this bag and I would like to make another. I love how you make all the different elements – the internal pockets and zips and the front flap and then sew it all together. The only issue I had this time was the internal zip – I find it a struggle to sew this with the fusible interlining on the back of the lining fabric. The zip just doesn’t seem to want to stay in the right place. I also added a Velcro strap inside the bag to hold a charger cable because I was taking the laptop away with me. This didn’t work out quite so well because it was a bit too long. It does hold though. I think it needed a little more thought before execution though.

A friend and colleague had got another job so I decided to make her a weekend bag as a leaving present. I had seen the pattern for this in The Bag Making Bible by Lisa Lam (a great book – it really is a bible for bag making!) and really wanted to make it. She had made it in oilcloth too so I thought I would give it a go.

I used a faux leather for the corners but my sewing machine didn’t like this at all so when it came to making the strap loops it gave up. It just couldn’t go through the required 8 layers of fabric even with a leather needle! I couldn’t leave the shoulder strap off so I had to improvise the strap loops.

There should also have been a front pocket but it looked so creased that I left that off too. And I forgot to put the bag feet on. And sewing the leather handles on was a nightmare! I did tell my friend that I didn’t think they would come off, even though they look like they might…

All in all, it looks nice. I hope it stands up to a few holidays for her.

Prior to a forthcoming holiday I decided I wanted to make a swimming bag big enough to hold everything we needed – 3 towels and swimming costumes, arm bands, swim nappies, etc…

I’d always fancied using oilcloth because the range of prints you can get is just lovely and it’s such a tactile material. This bag was an amalgamation of two bags in Debbie Shore’s Sew Beautiful Bags.

Some how yet again I overestimated how big the bag needed to be and I ended up cutting 4 inches off the length. I also cut the zip a bit too short so had to stitch it together by hand.

I wish I’d put more pockets inside too. I have one for locker coins etc but more compartments are always handy.

This time no interlining apart from a bit of firm interlining as a bit of a base. I made this for the quilt friend who never seemed to have a bag on her when we went shopping (which everyone in the UK knows is a must these days).

This is a reversible tote. I also added a button on each side just because I’d bought a new sewing machine and it did one-step buttonholes which I wanted to try out.

I do love these fabrics.

Incidentally, my friend still never has a bag on her when we go shopping…